People in Whiston are struggling to get to work, school and hospital appointments because of infrequent and unreliable rail services from the local station, the ECHO has heard. Trains from Liverpool to Manchester via Broad Green and Huyton generally stop at Whiston Station once an hour on weekdays and Saturdays and once every two hours on Sundays. People waiting at the station said that services are frequently cancelled or delayed at short notice.
Petition launched for better service
Rail users and local councillors have launched a petition calling on Northern Rail to improve the service, warning: “Our communities should not be left behind due to poor rail connectivity.”
When the ECHO visited the station, a passenger waiting for her train into Liverpool, Sarah Hammond, 52, said: “The fact the trains come only every hour is terrible. We need one every half hour.” She said that she goes into the office five days a week and has to travel into work nearly an hour earlier than she would choose to because otherwise she would be late.
She added that in the evening she has to get a train to Prescot – on the Wigan line – because the Whiston train leaves at 5pm on the dot, meaning that by the time she got to the station she would have to wait until 6pm.
Passengers share frustrations
“It’s a terrible service, especially for people who have got to go to work. I wake up in the morning and check the train times, I have my coffee, check the train times, have a shower, check the train times, get dressed, check the train times. Then I walk about eight minutes to the station and by the time I get here it’s delayed or cancelled. It’s the bane of my life. You can be standing on the platform and it will suddenly be delayed. On a Saturday it’s worse because it’s that busy you can’t get on the train, and then you’re there for another hour waiting again!”
She added that sometimes when there are delays the train will skip stops so Whiston passengers have to get off elsewhere and find their way back home from there.
A retiree who lives nearby and was also waiting for the train told the ECHO that she had come to the station last week to find her service had been cancelled. She said: “There is nothing here for you to do. If I were in Huyton I could go to the coffee shop, but you just have to wait. It’s a frequent occurrence.”
Councillors highlight impact on community
Terry Byron, who is a Whiston and Cronton ward councillor on Knowsley Council, added that the waiting area at the station is “freezing cold” for a lot of the year because it is open to the elements. He said: “If I need to go somewhere for six o’clock, I’ll aim for five o’clock because the train might be cancelled.” He added that the gaps between services cause problems for people with appointments at Broadgreen Hospital, who have to leave well ahead of time to ensure that they won’t be late.
The issue also affects schoolchildren, he said, adding: “If Rainhill High students don’t get that 3:30pm train they have to wait until 4:30pm.”
Whiston Town Councillor Denise Allen said: “Some of them are just coming out of junior school; they’re only 11. It’s not fair on the families. It’s not fair on the people of Whiston. It’s so frustrating.” Cllr Allen added that the trains used to come every half hour before the pandemic, and she wants to see them return to the old timetable.
Economic and social consequences
Cllr Byron said: “If you’re getting to work late it’s costing you money,” and Cllr Allen added: “Then you’re getting into trouble because do bosses really believe that the train service is that poor? Local businesses will also be losing footfall because people can’t easily travel to them. If you’re going into town and you think the train is looking dubious you’re not going to go.”
Both councillors said that they are often contacted by local people complaining about the rail services, with one person writing to Cllr Allen: “On a Saturday, it is like a cattle train, it is so packed. It’s definitely a health and safety hazard.” Another, Kerry Darwin, told Cllr Allen that heads to work at 6am so she’s on time. She also said that sometimes extra carriages are added to the trains on weekends, but the station platform is too small to accommodate them. This means that people on the train often struggle to get off before the doors close and end up having to go to the next stop and double back.
Deprived area reliant on rail
Cllr Allen said: “This is a really socially deprived area, so a lot of people don’t have cars. For many residents, rail travel is not optional. People rely on trains to travel to work, visit family, attend hospital appointments, access leisure. Trains every half hour would be so much better, catering for the modern world rather than the dark ages. It’s not just about people working but also young people, elderly people, who are becoming isolated. This situation places our communities at a clear disadvantage compared with others.”
The councillors’ petition calls on Northern Rail to restore a more “consistent” service, increasing the frequency of trains especially on weekends, and to improve communication with passengers when there is disruption.
Northern Rail responds
Northern Rail said that Office of Rail and Road figures show it ran 98% of planned services to Whiston in the latest recording period. Craig Harrop, Northern’s director of service delivery in Merseyside, said: “We work hard to run a reliable service for passengers in Whiston and always welcome feedback that can help us make improvements. We are contracted to run an hourly service from Monday to Saturday on this route, with some additional trains during peak periods. Passenger numbers are closely monitored, and most services now have six-carriages. Our current Sunday timetable in the North West reflects the level of service we can reliably deliver while some conductors are contractually entitled to not work on that day of the week. We know this is frustrating for passengers; however, we are working closely with our conductor colleagues and the RMT union to achieve a resolution.”
